Return of the man cave

As you all know, watching football is a form of slow and painful torture for me.

As you all know, watching football is a form of slow and painful torture for me.

For Hubby it’s a great source of relaxation and personal expression.

Until recently those two views were beginning to clash

I’ve tried for years to care about the sport, mostly because Hubby is a huge sports nut. I wish I wanted to fry up wings and serve beers all day long to Hubby and his buddies while they yell at the TV.

But I just can’t bring myself to watch more than five minutes of a game. Don’t care, don’t want to care, don’t want to waste my weekends watching them and want nothing to do with them. It’s all just noise to me anyway.

Just because it isn’t my passion it wouldn’t be fair to rob Hubby of his favorite pastime. He looks so forward to football season. If he’s not watching the games, he’s looking up scores, texting with his buddies about games and players and whatnot.

Football is to Hubby what a good book is to me–a guilty pleasure that I feel no guilt about.

However, up until this point we haven’t found a suitable spot for Hubby to build a cave. He made a few half-hearted attempts, but something about the space didn’t feel right and the idea never materialized. We decided that it was probably best if he leaves the house for a Viking’s game.

It seemed like a workable solution–until the Viking’s fourth loss in a row–when Hubby arrived home in a critical mood. His complaining turned from just about the Vikings to just about everything.

I was beginning to think this was just plain nonsense and it wasn’t happening anymore and then my prayers were answered–Hubby is getting a man cave back.

When the realization hit him his eyes glittered like a little boy who just saw Santa Clause. Suddenly he became serious and said, “Wait a minute, the idea of the man cave is I go into it by myself. Just remember, it’s a place only for ‘the man.’”

The more he talked, the more I realized how much we’ve suffered without a man cave.

In fact, studies have shown that space is very important for regulating emotions. Having his own personal space that reflects his interests can positively affect his well-being.

So maybe the Viking’s lousy season doesn’t have everything to do with his increasingly bad attitude. I’m willing to hold off banning games until he is settled in his own space–in about two more games.

I think we are finally on the right path to having a more relaxed home atmosphere. If anything, this will keep him busy and give him a reason to stay out of my hair!

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